Analysis of The Bellaires
Ezra Pound 1885 (Hailey) – 1972 (Venice)
The good Bellaires
Do not understand the conduct of this world's affairs.
In fact they understood them so badly
That they have had to cross the Channel.
Nine lawyers, four counsels, five judges and three
proctors of the King,
Together with the respective wives, husbands, sisters
and heterogeneous connections of the good Bellaires,
Met to discuss their affairs;
But the good Bellaires have so little understood their
affairs
That now there is no one at all
Who can understand any affair of theirs. Yet
Fourteen hunters still eat in the stables of
The good Squire Bellaire;
But these may not suffer attainder,
For they may not belong to the good Squire Bellaire
But to his wife.
On the contrary, if they do not belong to his wife,
He will plead
A 'freedom from attainder'
For twelve horses and also for twelve boarhounds
From Charles the Fourth;
And a further freedom for the remainder
Of horses, from Henry the Fourth.
But the judges,
Being free of mediaeval scholarship,
Will pay no attention to this,
And there will be only the more confusion,
Replevin, estoppel, espavin and what not.
Nine lawyers, four counsels, etc.,
Met to discuss their affairs,
But the sole result was bills
From lawyers to whom no one was indebted,
And even the lawyers
Were uncertain who was supposed to be indebted to
them.
Wherefore the good Squire Bellaire
Resides now at Agde and Biaucaire,
To Carcassonne, Pui, and Alais
He fareth from day to day,
Or takes the sea air
Between Marseilles
And Beziers.
And for all this I have considerable regret,
For the good Bellaires
Are very charming people.
Scheme | aabcbxaaAdaxexdfdggxfahfhaxaxx xAaxaxx ddaxdaaeac |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011 110100111101 011011110 111111010 11011011001 10101 0101001011010 000100101011 1101101 10111110011 01 11111111 11011001111 11101100101 0111 111110010 11110110111 1111 10100111101111 111 0101010 1110010111 1101 00101010010 11011001 1010 1011110 11101011 01111001010 111011 110110100 1101101 1010111 11011111010 010010 00101101110101 1 10111 0111101 11101 111111 11011 01010 01 0111110100001 1011 1101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,539 |
Words | 274 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 30, 7, 10 |
Lines Amount | 47 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 421 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 91 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 22, 2023
- 1:22 min read
- 188 Views
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"The Bellaires" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13365/the-bellaires>.
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